Algarve Cup, Feb. 24 - March 3, 2010

[Jeff]

The annual invitational Algarve Cup tournament is one of the most prestigious competitions in Women's football.

The following teams are set to compete this time:

GROUP A: Germany, Denmark, China, Finland

GROUP B: USA, Sweden, Norway, Iceland

GROUP C: Romania, Austria, Portugal, Faroe Islands

The usual format is single round-robin in groups, followed by a day of inter-group matches to determine overall placements.

What happened last time?

[Jeff]

Group A:
Feb. 24 - Germany 4-0 Denmark; Finland 1-1 China
Feb. 26 - Germany 7-0 Finland; Denmark 0-2 China
Mar. 1 - Germany 5-0 China; Denmark 2-1 Finland

Group B:
Feb. 24 - USA 2-0 Iceland; Sweden 2-2 Norway
Feb. 26 - Iceland 1-5 Sweden; USA 2-1 Norway
Mar. 1 - Iceland 2-3 Norway; USA 2-0 Sweden

Group C:
Feb. 24 - Portugal 5-0 Faroe Islands; Romania 2-0 Austria
Feb. 26 - Portugal 0-0 Romania; Austria 3-0 Faroe Islands
Mar. 1 - Portugal 2-1 Austria; Faroe Islands 1-5 Romania

[Jeff]

Final standings after March 3 placement matches:

1. USA
2. Germany
3. Sweden
4. China
5. Denmark
6. Norway
7. Romania
8. Finland
9. Iceland
10. Portugal
11. Austria
12. Faroe Islands

[Jeff]

The United States women's national soccer team topped Germany 3-2 in the Algarve Cup final on Wednesday in Portugal.

Lauren Cheney, who scored two goals in the Americans' previous Algarve Cup match vs. Sweden, scored the winner in the 70th minute to lead her team to victory.

This is the seventh time the U.S. has won the Algarve Cup championship in its eighth straight final appearance.

Carli Lloyd and Abby Wambach gave the American squad a 2-0 lead in the first half before Germany started chipping away.

Inka Grings made it 2-1 just before the break while also scoring the equalizer 15 minutes from time before Cheney's winner.

In other Algarve Cup action, Sweden took third place in the tournament with a 2-0 win over China.

- news reports